Blue cross Wants Your Doctor To Help Them Cancel Your Health Insurance

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Blue Cross Wants Your Doctor To Help Them Cancel Your Health Insurance

 

The LA Times says that doctors are objecting to a letter sent by Blue Cross of

California requesting that the docs help " indentify members who have failed to

disclose medical conditions on their application that may be considered

pre-existing. "

 

From the LA Times:

 

" We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of

patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect

their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality, " said Dr.

Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Assn.

 

Patients " will stop telling their doctors anything they think might be a

problem for their insurance and they don't think matters for their current

health situation, " he said. " But they didn't go to medical school, and there are

all kinds of obscure things that could be very helpful to a doctor. "

 

WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based company that operates Blue Cross of

California, said Monday that it was sending out the letters in an effort to hold

down costs.

 

" Enrolling an applicant who did not disclose their true condition (and the

condition is chronic or acute), will quickly drive increased utilization of

services, which drives up costs for all members, " WellPoint spokeswoman Shannon

Troughton said in an e-mail.

 

" Blue Cross feels it is our responsibility to assure all records are

accurate and up to date for HMO providers, " she said. " We send these letters to

identify members early on in the process who may not have been honest in their

application. "

 

Shannon sounds like a real sweetheart, doesn't she? The article goes on to

discuss recent lawsuits in California over insurance providers who approve

people without checking their applications for errors, then cancel their

policies later. Blue Cross is currently fighting a $1 million fine that the

California Department of Managed Health Care assessed for " alleged systemic

problems the agency identified in the way the company rescinds coverage. "

 

Doctors balk at request for data [LA Times] (Thanks, Everyone!)